Water heater life extender

ABSTRACT

An illustrated view of an improved anode rod assembly for removing corrosive elements from the water of the tank. The improved anode rod assembly is useful for providing a longer life span for water heater units. Further, an illustrated view of an exemplary water intake assembly is presented. The water intake assembly is useful, it provides an extra port so that more anodes can be inserted into the tank. Also having the dip tube at the very bottom of the tank provides more hot water and increases the efficiency of the water heater. Having multiple anodes will give an indefinite life span for the water heater.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a water heater. More particularly, it relates to providing more cathodic protection for the water heater unit which will increase the efficiency and life span of the water heater.

BACKGROUND

Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated to steam have many uses.

Domestically, water is traditionally heated in vessels known as water heaters, kettles, cauldrons, pots, or coppers. Rarely, hot water occurs naturally, usually from natural hot springs.

Appliances that provide a continual supply of hot water are called water heaters, hot water heaters, hot water tanks, boilers, heat exchangers, or calorifiers. These names depend on region, and whether they heat potable or non-potable water, are in domestic or industrial use, and their energy source. In domestic installations, potable water heated for uses other than space heating is also called domestic hot water (DHW).

Fossil fuels (natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, oil), or electricity are commonly used for heating water. Electricity to heat water may come from any other electrical source, such as nuclear power or renewable energy. Alternative energy such as solar energy, heat pumps, hot water heat recycling, and geothermal heating can also heat water, often in combination with backup systems powered by fossil fuels or electricity.

Water heaters have cathodic protection to make the water tank last longer. Cathodic protection is done by inserting a sacrificial metal called an anode that will be consumed by the corrosion that occurs from the minerals in the water that enter the tank. So that the metal of the water heater tank will not be harmed.

The anode protrudes into the tank about ¾ length of the tank, in the center and full length of the anode is a small core which is made of a steel rod which the sacrificial metal is attached to. The anode is inserted into the water heater tank top and has a cap that attaches it to the tank.

Water heaters have a dip tube which is installed in the port that is on top of the water heater tank where the cold water enters. The dip tube is a hollow plastic tube. The purpose of the dip tube is to divert the cold water that enters the tank to the lower part of the tank.

A concerning issue is that the anodes made of a sacrificial that are consumed quickly and have to be replaced every 12 to 18 months.

Accordingly, in light of the above, there is a need for a device that will allow for more anodes to be placed in the water heater tank so that anodes will last for 60 to 72 months or longer before replacement is needed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustrated view of a currently used water heater.

FIG. 2A is an illustrated view of an exemplary anode rod assembly for use with the water heater shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B is an illustrated view of two exemplary anode rod assemblies shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C is an illustrated view of four exemplary anode rod assemblies shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is an illustrated view of an exemplary water intake assembly.

FIG. 4 is an illustrated view of the water heater shown in FIG. 1 with the anode rod assemblies shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C and the water intake assembly shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list.

“Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise.

Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein.

Referring to FIG. 1, an illustrated view of a prior-art water heater 100. The prior-art water heater 100 is useful for heating water for household or commercial use.

The prior-art water heater 100 has a tank 110. The tank 110 holds and heats water that it receives through a cold-water pipe 111. An anode rod 112 is inserted through a port 113 to attract corrosive elements of the water. The anode rod 112 has been made of magnesium material for chlorinated water, water that is not chlorinated uses other materials such as zinc or aluminum. A dip-tube 109 is useful for funneling the received water down to approximately half (½) way down the tank 110 to funnel the cold water closer to the heating device at the bottom of the tank 110. When water is heated it rises, therefore the hot water remains substantially near an upper portion 118 of the tank 110. An outlet 114 allows for the hot water to enter the water line 115 on the top 117 of the tank 110.

To heat the water received, a gas burner or electric element is controlled by a thermostat 120. The gas flue 103 is for the exhaust fumes from the prior-art water heater 100 that uses natural gas or propane. A chimney 104 is substantially coupled to the gas flue 103. The thermostat 120 controls the temperature of the water by selecting a desired temperature. The temperature of the water can be changed at any time by adjusting the thermostat. There also are other methods used to heat the water such as solar energy and geothermal energy, the principles however remain the same.

The prior-art water heater 100 further has a relief valve 101 and relief valve tubing 102. The relief valve 101 is coupled to the tank 110 and is useful for relieving excessive high pressure inside of the tank 110. The relief valve 101 has a metal spring that will expand and open the relief valve to release excessive pressure caused by very hot water or steam that is directed through the relief valve tubing 102 downwards to the floor so that it would prevent harm to anything being close by, such as children.

Water heaters come with one anode rod 112 which is installed through the port 113 on top 117 of the tank 110, if there is no separate port for the port 113, there will be a different type of anode used, this type of anode has a nipple on the top which connects to the hot water line, the bottom portion of the nipple extends into the tank, this part of the nipple has an open por that allows the hot water to flow through it to enter the hot water line 115.

In FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C, an illustrated view of an altered anode rod assembly 200 to attract corrosive elements from water being released into the tank 110. The altered anode rod assembly 200 is useful for providing a longer life span for the water heater unit 210.

Each of the one or more anode rods 210 are attached to an electrically conductive wire 230 at one end, the other end of the electrically conductive wire is attached to the cap 220. The wire 230 is preferably a twenty (20) gauge bus bar, however other types of wires are further contemplated by this application.

Preferably, more than one anode rods 210 are present at any time, thus the water heater unit 110 has an extended life span proportionate to the number of anode rods 210 installed. Preferably there are four (4) anode rods 210, however the number of anode rods 210 may range from one to three or more (1-6). FIG. 2A shows a single anode rod 210 attached to the wire 230 which attaches to the cap 220. FIG. 2B shows two (2) anode rods 210 attached to the wire 230 which attaches to the cap 220. FIG. 2C shows four (4) anode rods 210 attached to the wire 230 which attaches to the cap 220.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an illustrated view of an altered water intake assembly 400 is presented.

The water intake assembly 400 has a cold-water piping 410, a dip tube 420 and a coupling-t-device 430. Note a coupling-t-device 430 allows for a three-way connection were as a normal coupling device allows for two connections.

The water piping 410 carries and delivers cold water to the water heater 500 of FIG. 4.

The water piping 410 is coupled to the coupling-t-device 430 at a center port 431. The water piping 410 is preferably made of a poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) material, however other materials are hereby contemplated and may be substituted as desired.

The dip tube 420 funnels the cold water received from the water piping 410 at the coupling-t-device 430 allows for three connections attached to the coupling 432 which attaches to near a bottom 513 of the tank 500 (shown in FIG. 4) where the drain valve connects to the tank. The placement of dip tube 420 attaching to a second connection 432 near the bottom 513 of the tank 500 (shown in FIG. 4) provides for enhanced life span of the dip tube 420. The dip tube 420 is preferably made of a poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) material, however other materials are hereby contemplated and may be substituted as desired. Further, the dip tube 420 is significantly shorter in length and supplies cold water to the very bottom of the tank which allows the water heater to operate at a higher efficiency level than a currently used dip tube.

An output port 433 of the coupling-t-device 430 has a valve 434 that is used to drain the water heater 500 of FIG. 4.

Moving now to FIG. 4, an illustrated view of an improved water heater 500 shown in FIG. 1 with the anode rod assembly 200 shown in FIG. 2A and the water intake assembly 400 shown in FIG. 3 is presented.

The water heater 500 has a tank 510, one or more anode rod assemblies 200, a water intake assembly 400, a relief valve 520, an intake port 511 and a relief valve tubing 530.

The water intake assembly 400 delivering cold water to the water heater 500 for heating purposes. The water intake assembly 400 has a water piping 510 and a dip tube 420. The water intake assembly 400 being configured on an outside 515 of the tank 510.

The one or more anodes rods 200 are coupled to an inside 512 of the tank 510. The one or more anodes rods 200 may be deployed in groupings of two (2) however other arrangements are hereby contemplated such as 3, 4 or more. The one or more anode assemblies 200 are placed in the port 113 where the dip tube (109 of FIG. 1) use to be. The cap 220 is coupled to the top 514 of the tank 510. The one or more anodes 200 preferably having a diameter of between three-fourth (0.75) and eight-four one-hundreths (0.840) inch, however other diameters are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, one-half (0.5) inch, one (1) inch, etc. The anodes rods 200 are preferably made of a steel material and coated with a sacrificial metal. A power source is created by a cathodic action to remove sediments and other elements from the water.

The dip tube 420 is coupled to the coupling-t-device 430 at the intake port 511 of the tank 510. The water piping 410 is preferably made of a ploy-vinyl chloride (PVC) material however other materials are hereby contemplated as determined by a person of skill in the art. The dip tube 420 is preferably made of a ploy-vinyl chloride (PVC) material however other materials are hereby contemplated as determined by a person of skill in the art.

In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application.

The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims. 

1. An improved water heater providing lengthened cathodic protection for lengthened life-span of the water heater, the water heater comprising: a tank defining an interior of the tank and having a top surface, a bottom, and side walls; at least one top port extending through the top surface of the tank; a bottom drain port extending through one of the side walls of the tank in proximity to the bottom of the tank; a water intake assembly attached to the exterior of the tank at the bottom drain port and comprising: a three-way coupling-t-device having a left side port, a center port and a right side port; a water piping for coupling to a cold-water source, said water piping coupled to the center port of the coupling-t-device; a dip tube coupled at one end to the left side port of the coupling-t-device and extending horizontally through the bottom drain port of the tank for placement of cold water at a distal end thereof within the interior of the tank when coupled to the cold-water source via the coupling-t-device; and a tank drain valve coupled to the right side port of the coupling-t-device; and an anode rod assembly comprising: one or more anode rods flexibly suspended within the interior of the tank from at least one cap engaging a top port of the tank, wherein each anode rod comprises a single non-flexible element of finished desired length to extend from its top end for installation near the top of the tank to its distal bottom end at the desired fully installed depth within the tank; and is flexibly attached to a cap by a wire having a first end attached to the anode rod and another end attached to the interior of the cap, whereby the flexible attachment of the at least one anode rod to the cap permits the attachment of more than one anode rods to the cap following insertion of said anode rods through the top port of the tank.
 2. The water heater of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more anode rods comprises a small steel rod in the center coated with a sacrificial metal.
 3. The water heater of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more anode rods have a diameter of at least three-fourths (0.75) inches.
 4. The water heater of claim 1, wherein a power source to remove sediments and other elements from water within the tank interior is created by cathodic action.
 5. (canceled)
 6. The water heater of claim 1, wherein water piping comprises a poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) material.
 7. The water heater of claim 1, wherein the dip tube comprises a poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) material.
 8. (canceled)
 9. (canceled)
 10. The water heater of claim 1, wherein the number of one or more anode rods is four (4) or more.
 11. The water heater of claim 1, wherein the one or more anode rod assemblies being grouped.
 12. The water heater of claim 1, wherein the wire used to connect the one or more anode rods to the at least one cap is twenty (20) gauge bus bar.
 13. A method for enhancing the lifespan of a water heater by providing lengthened cathodic protection thereof, wherein the water heater comprises: a tank defining an interior and having a top surface, a bottom, and side walls; at least one top port extending through the top surface of the tank; and a bottom drain port extending through the side wall of the tank in proximity to the bottom of the tank; the method comprising: determining a desired number of anode rods suspended within the interior of the tank to provide lengthened cathodic protection, each anode rod comprising a single non-flexible element of finished desired length to extend from its top end for installation near the top of the tank to its distal bottom end at the desired fully installed depth within the tank; inserting the desired number of anode rods through existing top ports in the tank for suspension therein, attaching a water intake assembly to the exterior of the tank at the bottom drain port of the tank, the water intake assembly comprising: a three-way coupling-t-device having a left side port, a center port and a right side port; a water piping for coupling to a cold-water source, said water piping coupled to the center port of the coupling-t-device; and a dip tube coupled at one end to the left side port of the coupling-t-device and extending horizontally through the bottom drain port of the tank for placement of cold water at a distal end thereof within the interior of the tank when coupled to the cold-water source via the coupling-t-device; and a tank drain valve coupled to the right side port of the coupling-t-device; wherein the shorter length and horizontal orientation of the dip tube provides enhanced lifespan to the dip tube; and the anode rods provide a lengthened period of time of cathodic protection to the hot water heater assembly.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the desired number of anode rods are inserted and suspended within the tank in an anode rod assembly comprising the desired number of anode rods flexibly suspended within the interior of the tank from at least one cap engaging a top port of the tank, wherein each of the desired number of anode rods is flexibly attached to a cap by a wire having a first end attached to the anode rod and another end attached to the interior of the cap, whereby the flexible attachment of the anode rod to the cap permits the attachment of more than one anode rod to the cap following insertion of said anode rods through the top port of the tank.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the wire used to connect each of the desired number of anode rods to the at least one cap is twenty (20) gauge bus bar.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the desired number of anode rods comprises a small steel rod in the center coated with magnesium.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the desired number of anode rods have a diameter between one-half (0.5) inches to (0.840) inches.
 18. (canceled)
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein the desired number of anode rods is four (4) or more.
 20. The method of claim 13, wherein the dip tube comprises a poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) material.
 21. A conversion apparatus for use with a water heater to provide enhanced cathodic protection for lengthened life span of the water heater, the water heater comprising a tank defining an interior of the tank and having a top surface, a bottom, and side walls; at least one top port extending through the top surface of the tank, and a bottom drain port extending through the side wall of the tank in proximity to the bottom of the tank, wherein the conversion apparatus comprises: a water intake assembly for attachment to the exterior of the tank at the bottom drain port and comprising: a three-way coupling-t-device having a left side port, a center port and a right side port; a water piping for coupling to a cold-water source, said water piping coupled to the center port of the coupling-t-device; a dip tube coupled at one end to the left side port of the coupling-t-device; and a tank drain valve coupled to the right side port of the coupling-t-device; and at least one anode rod assembly comprising: a cap for attachment to a top port of the tank; one or more linear anode rods, where each linear anode rod comprises a single non-flexible element of finished desired length to extend from its top end for installation near the top of the tank to its distal bottom end at the desired fully installed depth within the tank; and a wire corresponding to each anode rod having a first end for attachment to the anode rod and another end for attachment to the interior of the cap.
 22. The conversion apparatus of claim 21, wherein said conversion apparatus can be installed upon the water heater by: installing the water intake assembly to the bottom drain port of the tank, whereupon the dip tube will extend horizontally through the bottom drain port of the tank for placement of cold water at a distal end thereof within the interior of the tank when coupled to the cold-water source via the coupling-t-device; and installing each anode rod assembly in respect of a top port in the tank by: attaching each linear anode rod to the first end of its corresponding wire; attaching the other end of each wire to the cap; inserting each linear anode rod into the interior of the tank through the top port; and attaching the cap to the top port to seal same. 